Wings Of An Eagle
by Hachichii
Summary: Arthur wasn't special. He wasn't like the people who could explore the skies. USUK. Wingtalia AU.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur wasn't special. He wasn't like the people who could explore the skies and fly alongside planes. He didn't have beautiful feathers of every colour of the rainbow or leathery bat wings. He was an ordinary human and that was all he'd ever be. For the rest of his life. No new age technology could change that. And no matter how much he wanted to know what it was like to take flight without a plan, he didn't really mind. Or so he told himself.

He was walking home from the convenience store, plastic bag of 'food' and whatever else he could afford in his hand. Since his parents weren't going to be home any time soon, he had to take care of himself for the day. And if that meant having a ten day old, barely cooked hotdog and some ramen, then so be it. He sighed, wishing that his parents could come home quickly to save him from food poisoning.

He wasn't focused on his surroundings at all. Aside from the hard, cement ground below him, he didn't really focus on much else. The last thing he was going to focus on was the sky.

"...K OUT!" Arthur practically jumped out of his skin, looking around him to see nothing except for a few people walking on the streets around him. No trucks or cars were coming and no one was doing anything particularly reckless. Maybe a bike rider here and there, but this area was safe. Arthur was probably just hearing things.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he felt something hit him and push him to the ground, where he tumbled and rolled a few times. The plastic bag had ripped and hot dog and ramen spilled out onto the sidewalk. His arm had scraped against the sidewalk and all he could feel was pain in his wrist. He also managed to hit his head pretty hard and felt that he might have been bleeding.

After recovering from the initial shock, he felt the back of his head, wincing in pain. He was indeed bleeding. And his arm was definitely scraped and bleeding as well.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" It was then that Arthur noticed the weight on top of him and the feathers that had fallen to the ground beside him. Arthur dared to look up, his eyes meeting with light blue eyes. He instantly felt embarrassment. He should have watched where he was going!

"Ah-no! No! Don't worry. I should have been more careful." He said as the winged stranger that had just crashed into him got up. The winged stranger put out his hand and Arthur took it, allowing himself to be helped up. Arthur patted himself down, making sure to get the dust and dirt off of himself. He then looked up to the stranger. "It's fine, really."

The stranger went from concerned to happy much too fast and he basically bounced from excitement. "That's great! My name is Alfred, by the way!" This stranger named Alfred jutted his hand out once again, this time as a form of greeting. Arthur took his hand, shaking it. He felt he should introduce himself as well. "And I'm...Arthur." Alfred nodded, letting go of Arthur's hand and checking on his wings. He flapped them once before looking back at the ground.

"Ah, you dropped your stuff. I'll help you pick this up." Alfred bent down, picking up a cold hot dog, ramen, and a cheap off-brand soda. The bag had ripped, so he had to stand there with those items in his hands. "Want me to help you take them home?" Arthur had spaced out, but came to with a jump. He instantly shook his head. "No, it's no problem. You don't have to-"

"I think I should. Where do you live?" Arthur paused, registering what had happened. Alfred seemed to have misheard 'no, you don't have to' as 'yes, please'. But Arthur didn't argue. He merely led the way to his town house just a few minutes away.

* * *

Arthur pulled out the key to his home, unlocking the door and holding it open for Alfred. Alfred walked in, instantly placing the cheap 'food' on the counter. He turned to Arthur who had just locked the door back and then, looked around the town house. It was decent sized and was decorated as if a rich person lived there. But both knew that no rich person lived in this town house. Especially considering that off-brand soda and ramen was all that Arthur could afford.

Coming back to reality, Arthur looked over Alfred. Or rather, his wings. Alfred had the wings of an eagle and Arthur imagined that his wingspan was large. The feathers seemed soft and Arthur had the urge to run his hand over them, but he didn't. Alfred was a stranger after all. The wings were brown, darkest at the very ends of the feathers and they lined up perfectly. Alfred's wings were perfect and there wasn't a single blemish or fault.

Arthur averted his attention to Alfred, however, and he felt embarrassment as he realized that Alfred had caught him staring. He tried to come up with an explanation, but he was shocked when Alfred spread his left wing just enough to show Arthur what they really looked like.

"You seem to be fascinated with my wings. Have you never seen winged people before?" Alfred asked this in a mocking tone, of course. Arthur had seen people with wings before. It's just that he hadn't seen them so close up. And if he had, they usually just walked past him. But he was right in front of Alfred and had the opportunity to actually see his wings. And it would be a lie to say that he didn't like to sight of them.

"You can touch them, ya know. I don't mind." Alfred flapped slightly and Arthur tried his best to not seem excited. Though, in reality, he was. He walked closer to Alfred, reaching out until he felt the softness of his feathers. He ran his hand down to the lightest part of Alfred's wings before letting his hand fall to his side. Just as Arthur predicted, Alfred's wings _felt_ perfect as well.

"Ah-Why don't you sit down and I'll just-" Arthur didn't want to give Alfred off-brand soda, but it was all he had. And he did want Alfred to stay. Just for a little while longer.

Alfred nodded, sitting down on the tan couch and waiting for whatever else Arthur was going to tell him. Arthur set down a glass of off-brand grape soda and sat in the arm chair just diagonal of Alfred. He didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but he did want to talk to Alfred more. And it'd still be a couple of hours before Arthur's parents came back home.

"So, what were you doing today? Before crashing into me?" Arthur asked, nervously sipping from his own glass.

"Oh! I was practicing! I want to join the air force when I get older, so I'm practicing my flight skills!" Arthur wasn't expecting to hear that, but he did think it was fitting. The air Alfred gave off just seemed like that. He seemed like someone who was ambitious. And it was no surprise for someone like him to want to do something like that in his future. "The air force, huh?" Alfred nodded in excitement. He seemed passionate about it as well.

"Well, I hope to hear about you being the hero and saving millions of people." Arthur sipped from his glass once again, sinking into his chair. Alfred nodded again. "I assure you that I will!"

* * *

The two had been talking for hours, occasionally pausing to watch the television, but their time together was well spent and the two had definitely learned things about each other. Such as how Alfred's father, who was winged as well, was in the air force. And how Arthur had been in the school band when he was younger. The two had very interesting conversations and, surprisingly, had fun together. But that time had come to an end as Arthur's parents were probably almost home by now. So, Arthur had to say his goodbyes or risk getting in trouble.

"I'm really sorry, but you should get going. Thank you for the help and talk, Alfred." Arthur got up, unlocking the door and opening it just slightly. Alfred nodded, getting up and looking around. He caught sight of what he wanted and bent down, so he was level with the coffee table.

Arthur waited patiently as Alfred wrote something down, though he didn't know what. He focused on the world outside before Alfred handed a piece of paper to him.

"Read it." Alfred said. Arthur opened the piece of paper to see a number. It had a phone number written on it along with a message that read 'text me any time you want'. Arthur looked up at Alfred who was about to walk out of the door before being stopped.

"Ah, thank you. I'll text you later?" Arthur asked, looking at the paper and back to Alfred. Alfred paused for a second, but nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Text ya later, Arthur!" He ran to the sidewalk, waving Arthur goodbye before taking flight.

Arthur searched for his phone, pulling it out of his pocket and looking back down at the paper. He had said later, but he was shaking with anticipation and just wanted to text Alfred now. But he calmed himself, reminding himself that he would be able to talk to Alfred in the next few hours. He stuffed the number into his pocket and cleaned up the left over glasses just as his mother walked in the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! I'm so sorry for not updating this fic in a while, but here's chapter two. I tried to make it seem less awkward while also watching my pacing. So, I apologize if this chapter isn't as good as the first one. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!**

* * *

It was 9PM and Arthur was waiting for a reply to his text. He was beginning to get anxious. Perhaps Alfred was too busy. Or Arthur had typed the number wrong. Arthur could swear that he had checked if he had it wrong over one hundred times, but he had to have had it right. Maybe Alfred found his message too awkward and just didn't bother responding.

 _Hello? It's Arthur from before_

Now that he thought about it, maybe it was a bit awkward. Maybe Arthur should have added a period to the end of the sentence. Alfred may be a grammar freak or something. It was illogical, but at this point, it made sense to Arthur.

"When are you going to respond...?" Arthur asked to no one, changing his position in his bed once more. This wait was uncomfortable and anxiety inducing. Arthur had immediately gone to irrational, negative thoughts. Maybe Alfred just wasn't that interested anymore. Maybe Arthur was going too fast. Maybe Alfred wasn't as nice as he appeared to be and just played with Arthur.

As soon as that last thought ran across his mind, however, Arthur's phone buzzed and the preview of a message from Alfred popped up on the screen. Arthur swiped the screen to reply a little too fast, but he dismissed the thought almost instantly. His priority was checking the message and replying to it in the best way he could.

 _hellooo I didn't think you'd actually message me haha_

Even in text, Alfred was still as sunny and sweet as he was in real life. Or as sunny and sweet as he seemed, at least. Arthur was still observing his new winged friend. Just in case Alfred wasn't all he seemed to be.

Arthur shook his head, dismissing that thought as well, as he read Alfred's message over and over again. At least he wasn't a grammar freak. Arthur laughed at that thought, but the laugh was short as Arthur realized that he had no idea what to say. This blossoming friendship would have been wonderful if Alfred and Arthur were interacting in real life, but this was through text. And Arthur wasn't really the best at text messaging. Quite the contrary, actually.

 _Yeah_

He sighed to himself in disappointment. He had probably hurt Alfred's feelings or something. He may have come off as uncaring and apathetic. But it wasn't that. He just had a hard time with responses.

But Alfred saved the conversation somehow with a 'how are you doing'. Arthur actually had to admit that he liked how casual Alfred's typing style was. It fit him.

Arthur pondered on how he actually was doing. It's not like he was bad. Not at all. But he couldn't exactly tell Alfred that he was flustered, frustrated, and confused over their 'conversation'.

 _Pretty good and you?_ That was what he settled with. It seemed alright enough. At least it wasn't his honest answer-which probably would have turned Alfred away.

Alfred responded almost instantly, stating that he was doing quite well and was currently cleaning feathers and glass off of the floor. Arthur's interest was piqued as he remembered the large, soft wings that fit Alfred so well. He was also quite concerned about the glass. He asked about Alfred's flight practice, assuming that was why Alfred was cleaning up feathers. The glass could have had something to do with it. Maybe Alfred crashed into a window.

And he was genuinely surprised to see that his thought, which was mostly a joke, was correct. Alfred had been practicing and he crashed into the window of his home, which his mother made him clean up. Arthur laughed at this. For someone who wanted to be in the air force, he did seem to make a lot of mistakes. But it wasn't exactly a bad thing that he had crashed into Arthur earlier today.

A notification interrupted his thoughts and he opened the message, scanning it. A part of him was happy to read the message, but the other was apprehensive and surprised when reading 'we should meet up tomorrow'. Of course he wanted to meet up. He wanted to get to know Alfred. And to see his wings again. But it was so sudden and he just didn't know what to say or how to socialize with him. They were polar opposites in that sense. Alfred seemed more straightforward and social. Arthur wasn't that. Maybe a bit straightforward, but not with these things.

Arthur quickly replied with a short 'sure' and he hurried to turn off his phone before seeing Alfred's message. He plugged his phone to his charger and then, he was off to bed. He didn't bother checking Alfred's reply when his phone buzzed. He was just too nervous. He sighed as he laid in his bed, pulling his covers over himself. He had all intention to check the message in the morning, but for now, he just let sleep take him away.

* * *

He woke up to his mother yelling about school, telling him to get up, shower, get dressed, and to do everything else that a normal person did when getting ready for school. He rubbed his eyes and got up, slowly waddling to his phone and checking the message Alfred had sent.

 _great! i'll see you tomorrow then! does after school work?_

Arthur gulped, rubbing his eyes once more and unplugging his phone. He plodded to his bathroom, replying to Alfred's message with a 'yeah' before setting his phone down on the sink's counter. His phone vibrated, but he didn't check the message. Instead, he just focused on cleaning himself up. He turned on the shower and then, slowly stalked to the closet, pulling out whatever without a care of how he'd look. Lucky for him, his choice outfit didn't look too bad.

His thoughts, despite being slow, focused on his little meeting with Alfred. His mind kept coming up with things that could have gone wrong. What if Arthur was too quiet or too talkative? What if he tripped? What if they did something that Arthur didn't like very much and he came off as too picky? What if Arthur didn't speak up about it and he didn't enjoy the day? Bad scenario after bad scenario overruled any other thought and Arthur felt like he could pull out his hair with how upset these thoughts made him.

But he had made it to his mother's car and settled on talking to his mother to distract himself. He knew the thoughts were irrational. After all, he wasn't a fortune teller. But it was something about this 'date' that was absolutely terrifying and it would be a lie if Arthur said he had his emotions and thoughts under control.

As his mother pulled up to the school, he silently went over a plan for the day and hoped that everything would go well. With anyone else, Arthur might have been a bit more calm, but something about Alfred was special and Arthur just couldn't afford to mess up. He didn't know why he was so afraid of messing up, but it was too late to think about that now. All that mattered was that the day went well and Arthur swore that he would do anything to accomplish that.


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur's emotions were a mess and he was unsure of how to describe what he felt when he saw his new winged friend standing in front of his door. He wasn't expecting Alfred to be here. He actually didn't remember coming up with a meeting place, but this wasn't exactly what he expected. He waved to Alfred, his chest feeling heavy as he walked up the stairs to his duplex home.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here." Was all he could think to say. He looked around the area as if searching for cameras. "I didn't think you even knew where I lived." Alfred just replied with a shrug. This didn't help Arthur's anxiety as he continued searching for a camera or something.

"We did just meet yesterday. It's not odd to remember something like that, right?" Alfred laughed as he said this, obviously joking. Though, Arthur didn't know how he felt about that joke. He just shrugged, deciding he could trust Alfred for now. After all, the boy didn't seem like the type to manipulate others. Especially considering that he was the same guy who crashed into the window of his own house. Arthur sighed at the thought, wondering how someone like Alfred could possibly join the air force or even _want_ that. God knows how many people he's crashed into before Arthur.

"Hellooo? Arthur?" Arthur came to at the sight of Alfred's hand waving over his face. He slowly lowered Alfred's hand, cursing to himself for getting so distracted by his thoughts. "If you don't mind me asking, why exactly do you want to join the air force?" That was Arthur's first question as he unlocked the door to his home and held the door for Alfred. Alfred trotted in, silently thanking Arthur with a wave. As Arthur closed the door, Alfred stopped, thinking to himself even though he obviously knew the answer. He made an expression that could only be read as "Aha!" And he was allowing himself to sit down on the arm of the leather couch behind him. "Well, Arthur. Let me explain a thing about my childhood to you."

Arthur grabbed him and Alfred a drink and sat himself down, ready for any story Alfred had for him. Arthur nodded to him, giving Alfred the okay to tell his story. And so he started.

"Well, my dad was in the air force, actually. Unfortunately, he died when I was young. I was maybe four? Five? And my little brother was two at the time. Ever since then, I've always wanted to be in the air force." He told it like it was a fact from a book. It was a very simple, typical reason to want to join something like the air force. And Arthur could respect that. However, he wasn't very sure if the air force was fit for Alfred. After all, he was a little clumsy and didn't seem to be the most graceful flyer.

"How long have you been practicing?" Arthur asked, attempting to hide his expression under the filled glass.

"For about a year and a half. It's not the 'flying' part that gets to me. It's just that when I try to do tricks-"  
"You crash into people and windows."

Alfred nodded, smiling nervously as if silently saying 'oops'. He seemed to be quite an expressive person and Arthur liked that. It contrasted Arthur's closed off and unexpressive personality. The two were polar opposites, but it really wasn't all that bad. It was perfect, actually.

"You mentioned a brother? Does he have wings?" Alfred shook his head which confused Arthur.

"I get my wings from my dad. Most of my traits come from my dad, actually. From appearance to personality. My little brother, Matthew, takes after my mom." Arthur made a sound that seemed like an 'oooh' as he imagined what Alfred's dad might have looked like. He hummed again, changing his position in his seat, so he would be more comfortable.

"So, what do you want to do when you graduate school?" Alfred asked suddenly as he changed his position as well. Arthur pondered on the question, thinking about all of the things that he wanted to be. He finally settled on one thing, however, and he hoped that it wasn't too freaky for his winged friend. "I'd like to be a teacher. I want to help people, but I'm not good at advice."

Alfred hummed and Arthur was surprised that he didn't get an 'oh cool' from him at least. Then, Alfred suddenly spoke loudly which startled Arthur.

"Well! We can help people together! I can help the country and you can help the citizens. Sounds good, yeah?"

Arthur stared for a short while before quietly laughing. Alfred seemed more than enthusiastic and Arthur could appreciate that. He nodded, answering with a louder-than-normal 'yeah' and giving Alfred a toast. For helping people, Alfred says.

* * *

It was 5PM and Arthur's mother or father would have been home any time soon. It was about time that Alfred went home. So, the two boys said their farewells and all and Arthur began cleaning up the 'mess' the two had made.

"Hey, Arthur? You should come with me. We could fly to my house!"

"I'm walking, thank you. I don't want you dropping me." Alfred snorted at this. He had his hand on the doorknob, but he looked at the wall that blocked the view of Arthur's kitchen as he waited for a yes or no. Eventually, Arthur was at Alfred's side and the two were off to Alfred's home. Alfred had agreed to walk with Arthur rather than flying. But only if Arthur promised to fly with Alfred one day.

"So, about your brother...what does he look like?" Arthur asked in an attempt to start conversation. He was still interested in this 'Matthew'.

"Oh, Mattie? He looks like my mom and has really wavy hair. And he's kinda pale. He doesn't go out much. Oh and he's also got this really weird curl sticking out from his head." The description was vague, but it at least gave Arthur an image he could work with. He observed Alfred's features, adding them to that image of his brother and settling on the image of a long haired boy with a curl who looked just like Alfred.

"He seems nice, I guess." Was all that Arthur could manage. Though he wished to say more, there wasn't much he could say without knowing Matthew's personality and appearance. But knowing Alfred, Matthew was more than likely a kind person. But he did seem more calm compared to his big brother.

* * *

The two boys stopped in front of a wooden, dark door. This was obviously Alfred's home. It wasn't some sort of extravagant or huge house,-which contrasted Alfred's personality-but it was pretty and seemed comfortable and welcoming.

Alfred turned the doorknob, opening his house and inhaling the smell of chocolate in his home. Someone was baking. Alfred walked into his home, ushering Arthur in and closing the door behind him. Before Alfred had even made it to the kitchen, the two had already been greeted with a soft 'Welcome back, Alfred'. The voice sounded masculine, so Arthur assumed that it was Matthew who had just welcomed his brother. He also assumed that Matthew was doing the baking.

As they turned the corner into the kitchen, Arthur saw that both assumptions were right and his imaginary image of Matthew was pretty accurate. He was a tall boy with long, wavy blond hair and, as Alfred had said, he had a strange curl that jutted from the part of his bangs. He was pale and had eyes that were only a little darker than Alfred's and wore rounded glasses. Like Arthur had predicted, Matthew looked just like his brother except for the fact that he was taller and seemed much more introverted from his appearance. Alfred, of course, looked extra extroverted.

"Oh! You brought a friend!" Matthew seemed surprise, but his voice still didn't raise. He was definitely calmer than Alfred. Alfred just nodded.

"Matthew, this is Arthur. Arthur, this is my little brother, Matthew." He casually introduced the two of them, smile plastered on his face as if it was his default expression. Matthew nodded, putting out his hand as to ask for a handshake and Arthur shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Arthur." Matthew flashed a quick smile and then continued what he was doing. He opened the oven, pulling out a tray of chocolate chip cookies and Arthur could swear that Alfred was drooling. However, his winged friend didn't react as Arthur thought he would, acting much calmer than expected.

"I made dinner as well. Arthur, feel free to make yourself at home. If you like spaghetti, I'm fine with you eating dinner with us." Matthew said as he put the tray to the side and took out three plates. He took the top off of a large pot on the stove, emptying its contents onto the three plates and setting them on the table. He took his seat and Alfred sat across from him, patting the table to say 'sit here'. And Arthur followed his instruction, awkwardly sitting down and twisting noodles around his fork.

Arthur had come to the conclusion that Matthew could cook as noodles and sauce entered his mouth and flavour exploded in his mouth. It had been so long since Arthur had eaten anything aside from fast food, ramen, and his mother's barely decent cooking and this was the best thing in the world to him. He mumbled a compliment to himself and shoved another wad of noodles in his mouth.

"So, how did you meet Alfred?"

"I crashed into him." Alfred answered for Arthur, saying it as if it was a normal thing to crash into people. Of course, all three of them knew it wasn't.

"Yeah. He, ah, crashed into me on my way home." Arthur said as he finished eating. "He's quite the character, I must say. Very expressive." Arthur said 'very', but it was really an understatement. Alfred was the most expressive and open person Arthur had met. So much so that he deserved an award or place in the Guinness World Record Book. Matthew just replied with an 'oh'. It was silent from then until Arthur asked a rather obvious question.

"So, your mother doesn't have wings?" He asked to both of them. Alfred shook his head and then got into his 'explanation mode'. "Nope! Our mom is human." The answer was obvious, but Arthur still had to ask. After all, Alfred had such large and beautiful wings. It was impossible for him to be the child of a human. But that was how it was and Arthur didn't question it further.

* * *

"Do you need me to walk with you?" Alfred asked, standing in the doorway of his home. Arthur stood in the darkness outside, the only light being inside of Alfred's house and the neighbouring houses. It was time to go home, as hinted by the text he had just received from his mother, demanding for him to come home.

Arthur shook his head. "Thank you, but I'll be fine. If anything happens, though, I'll call you and you can crash into whoever tries to harm me." Alfred laughed his usual laugh, this one being shortlived. He apologized for crashing into Arthur again and waved him off.

"See you tomorrow, Arthur! Take care!" He said, closing his door just as Arthur was nearing the curb.

Arthur felt as if his and Alfred's friendship had progressed. He had learned a lot about Alfred from his reason for wanting to join the air force to how he used to be very introverted. He had even learned how many people mistook Matthew for Alfred when the two boys were younger. Arthur felt proud to know these things about his winged friend and he looked forward to talking more.

But he saved that thought for another day, convincing himself that his infatuation with Alfred was just idealization of someone he barely knew.


End file.
